The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-01-27
THE STORY OF EmIN sEY.
How the Man Whom Stanley Has
Gone to Rescue Started Upon His
Work and What He Accomplished.


Beyond the fact that he is laboring In the
cause Of civilization somewhere In che Sou
day very little is known in this country Of
Emin Bey. Yet he Is truly remarkable
man. 1t Is now eight years since General
Gordon appointed MIN Goyernor-General Of
the Egyptian Equatorial Provinces, dis
trict so large that Great Britain would lie In
a corner Of 1t. Emin Bey, who was an Aus
trian doctor, started upon his work without
any flourish. His task looked like an inn
possible one; but Gordon was constantly do
ing impossible" things hismelf. and expect
ed as much Of his, lieutenants. When Emin
Bey reached the provinces he was to rule
over If he could reduce them to order, he
found things about as bad as they e0ufT> T>oe,,
That was in 1878. In three years he had
swept the slave traders out Of that enormous
tract OF land, with Its six million inhabitants;
and these gentry have never dared to show
their faces since. The provinces had so far
been governed at deficit OF $4,000 per an
mum; by the end OF 1881 there was a surplus
Of $4,000, Although the Governor General
had established several public works in that
time, the expenses Of which were eOnsidera-
BILE this surplus was not obtained by more
taxation The change had been brought
about simply by good government, by ecOno-
my, and by the suppression of abuses.
Then came the rumOrs Of troubles in the
SOudan. Emin Bey was one Of the first TO
fOresee them, and to suggest how they might
be dealt with. His advice was disregarded,
and he was told to attend to the affairs Of bis
own provinces. Then came the SOudan war,
and being hOpelessly beyond relief, Emin
was first neglected and then forgotten IL Is
three years since he ehashadfnstructions Of any
kind from p the Egyptian though
nicate with them. As rule, what messages
he has sent TO Egypt or elsewhere have been
intercepted. All that Is known Of his life
during these three years Is derived from
few private letters to friend n this country.
As several letters have been lost for the one
that has reached its destination, the nara
tive Is not continuous.
Emin Bey has taught the natives Of the
Egyptian Equatorial provinces the cultlva-
tion Of cotton, rice. indigo, coffee, etc. He
has made weavers Of some Of them, and boot
makers Of others. The soap he uses Is Of
his own manufacture. In his very last letter
he told Of his attempts TO vacelnate his peO-
pie The death rate In the provinces has
been very high Of late, owing TO an epidemic
which he spends the better part OF his morn
ings. He is a schoolmaster. He has con
nected the different parts of the provinces by
weekly posts, there being forty stations. In
short, ne has done so much In so short a
space Of time that, with little assistance,
there must be great career Of usefulness
before him.
IL may be, however, that before a relief
force can reach him Emin Bey will have sue
eumbed. Whatever route Is chosen, seven
months must elapse before he can be re-
lieved.
In the meantime Emin Bey Is Of good
cheer. Though his days are long and his
work labOriOus and his peril great, he is
still, in his leisure, the student he was In his
earlier days. When 1t gets dark he retires
TO his house, and lights the candles, which
he makes himself. Then he sits down TO his
scientific studies. At these times he might
be a man Of science in his laboratory In Lon
don. In his last letter he wishes he had more
books, and laments the scarcity Of ''ine shot.
arsenic, soda, etc, to enable me to continue
the preparation of geological specimens"
Surely a man like this ought not TO be left TO
parfab